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The Growth Of The EDM Industry Might Be Slowing Down

It’s hard to think of a force in the entertainment industry that’s been as pervasive as electronic dance music has been over the past several years. The meteoric growth of festivals coupled with the proliferation of new technologies like music streaming services created a perfect storm that made the musical movement a ubiquitous part of the millennial experience, and business moguls the world over sought to cash in. If leading research can be counted on, though, the rate of growth of the industry could finally be slowing down.

The business reports presented by “dancenomics” expert Kevin Watson at the annual Internation Music Summit conference in Ibiza have served as perhaps the most reliable barometer of various goings on in the ever-expanding industry. The report he has presented during the most recent edition exhibits indicators that more than one sector of the industry are seeing a slowed rate of increase in revenue.

For example, total festival capacity in the United States stayed constant at roughly 1.4 million from 2013-2014 after half a decade of significant sustained growth. The report largely attributes this to Ultra Music Festival having to drop back down to one weekend in 2014, mentioning that early bird tickets dropped from $450 to $250 after considerable fan feedback.

The inflation of DJ earnings slowed as well; aside from Calvin Harris, who’s maintained the same rate of wage growth from 2013-2014, the top nine DJs in the world collectively grossed $252 million – which is still $27 million more than the year before, but considerably less than 2013’s staggering increase of $111 million from 2012.

Most importantly, the estimated value of the global EDM industry from 2014-2015 sits at roughly $6.9 billion – only a $.7 billion increase from the year before, which was an increase in $1.7 million from the year before it.

As with all music trends, EDM won’t grow more and more profitable indefinitely, and it’s difficult to pinpoint how long its worldwide surge in popularity will last. Time will tell if the latest figures are only a minor setback to an industry with otherwise long-term potential, or if they tell of an impending bubble like the one various parties have tried to predict for years.

If you’re interested in EDM in any capacity, the full report makes for a fascinating read on countless other factors in the global market as well, and we definitely suggest checking it out.